A treehugger's dilemma...

My Favorite Beach

So...I've been preoccupied with the Gulf Oil Spill. An understatement. I have sent letters to congressmen and signed more petitions than I can remember...so please don't send me any more...I no longer remember which I've put my John Hancock on and fear I would compromise them by signing twice. Really.

On Saturday I am participating with the Sierra Club in the Hands Across The Sand event at Buckroe Beach. If you are knew to the Hands Across The Sand phenomenon, you can check it out on fb or visit  http://www.HandsAcrossTheSand.com/ . From 12 PM to 12:15 people across the globe will come together on beaches and parks and join hands to say no to near and off-shore drilling.

I am excited about being part of this, and it is my first event as a Sierra Club member. It is going to be awesome. But the decision to go came with a treehugger dilemma...I'd be driving an hour each way, using up fuel every mile.  And that's when I came up with one of my great ideas...why not host a gathering right here in Mathews...we have beaches. It seemed at first like a great idea...get more local support...increase some visibility...so I let my fingers do the walking and I signed up to host a Hands Across the Sands gathering at Bethel Beach. I should mention it was late at night. I am a nocturnal genius.

That night I went to sleep full of excitement...and then the dreams started...enter treehugger dilemma #2. Too many people...too many people leaving traces even well-intentioned people leave. And all this on my most favorite beach in whole wide world. I've been to alot of beaches...in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Fiji, Italy, Greece. There was a time when I could say "Let's go to the beach" in six different languages. But, Bethel Beach has always been my favorite and has captured my heart more than any other...the chattering of the ospreys in their nest, the relentless breeze, the many orange and purple skies, and the way the beach is simply never the same one twice...it is all just heaven to me. So, the Leave No Trace educator in me just couldn't risk heaven. And heck, I had just helped clean up trash there with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation...why do it again.  I woke up early and emailed the Virginia coordinator of Hands... to say I'd reconsidered. I'd be attending the event at Buckroe. If you caught it at the right time you may have seen the Bethel Beach event on the Hands Across The Sand map. It was there for a few minutes. Really.

Bethel Beach saved, I was now back with dilemma #1...which I have solved in my tiny treehugging brain by making a list of all the things I will do across the bridge so that the fuel counts for more than one thing.  Trader Joe's for organic coffee that I can actually afford. Habitat for Humanity Restore Warehouse to look for some used windows and building materials. If you haven't been there it is worth a visit... My kitchen is painted with discarded paint that cost $ 1 a gallon, my back porch glassed with used windows and sliding doors which I never would have managed bought new.

Oh, and I am bringing trash bags...to help clean up the traces even well-intentioned people leave...at Buckroe this time. Saturday, June 26 at Buckroe Beach. Gathering starts at 11. Joining of hands 12-12:15. Come out and say no to near and off-shore drilling. http://HandsAcrossTheSand.com/

In Perspective: Visualizing the BP Oil Disaster

It is getting bigger all the time.
In Perspective: Visualizing the BP Oil Disaster: "See how the oil spill in the gulf would look over your hometown"

Sickened by the Spill

Anyone who knows me also knows that I have been deeply affected by the BP oil spill in the Gulf.  I am angry, bewildered, frustrated...on so many levels... for so many reasons that I have put off  writing about it for nearly a month.  I am no closer to being able to wrap my brain around this tragedy than I was in the beginning, but I am blogging on because I am hoping it will at least help me think it through.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion and fire aboard the BP oil drilling platform, Deep Horizon, killed eleven workers.  It also resulted in a massive oil spill that continues to pump thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf daily.  I say thousands because noone seems to be able to estimate, with any degree of accuracy, the daily volume of spilled oil. BP now states that they are capturing 3000 barrels daily, but there is no estimate as to how much continues to spew forth.

Beyond the tragic loss of human life, the BP disaster will have far reaching consequences for the ecosystem along the U.S. Gulf Coast and it has already impacted residents who depend on a healthy Gulf of Mexico to support both fisheries and tourism. There are so many restrictions on fisheries at present, I couldn't begin to list them all...and despite reports of "clean beaches" tourism is down...so BP has now reportedly given 70 million dollars to the Gulf states to air commercials the company made to promote tourism.  It all makes me sick.

Today, I watched as BP CEO Tony Hayward had the nerve to tell the world that the environmental impact of the Deepwater Disaster would be "very, very, modest." Yeah, maybe in the U.K. The truth is he doesn't know, and I don't know, and I'd guess that most of the experts don't even know... yet. It could take decades for a full assessment...will we watch the marine food web unravel in the Gulf? Will it stop there? How far will the oil travel? Around the Florida Keys? Will there be gaps in spawning cycles? What about migratory birds? What about the loss of marine life we can't see? Oh, the questions are endless, and relentless...and by the time we might be able to see changes in numbers of endangered species, will it be blamed on something else? Endless, and relentless until my brain just wants to explode.

And then there is the BP Atlantis platform.  Just as dangerous, and again, without the acoustic control shut-off system...and that isn't all BP's fault. We don't require them...not part of the rules for off-shore drilling. Our rules are in part to blame. Brazil and Norway have safer rules. 

Our whole energy policy stinks.  We talk about clean energy, but it is just talk.  Instead of pushing through clean energy solutions, the President I've supported ushered in a new wave of off-shore drilling exploration just before the Deepwater incident. Bad timing clearly. I am angry. We are too dependant on fossil fuels. We are all to blame. My car gets good gas mileage, but I drive it too much. I haven't finished the glassing/insulating of my south facing back porch which could have provided some solar heat last winter. I am mad at me.

I have a whole list of idiots whose pictures I'd like to throw darts at: Tony Hayward (BP CEO already mentioned), Rush Limbaugh (for even suggesting that the Sierra Club should pay the clean-up tab), Lisa Murkowski (yet another Alaskan idiot, for derailing the move to increase fines for wreaking environmental havoc)...and yeah, I'm not real happy with my guy in the White House because I need him to take a stronger stand. If ever there was a time to cement a new sense of environmental obligation...this is it.

And then there is my beautiful Chesapeake, my home, my peace, my place like no other...and the thought of drilling off the Maryland/Virginia coast just scares me...and I am hoping those plans will not proceed, but they are far from being tabled...so stand up, my friends, and make your voices count. We could be next.

Angry. Angry and wanting something good to arise from the anger...So, I will complete the porch project, and when I finish paying off the Matrix, the next one will be a hybrid.  And I will have to make better lists so I don't have to drive to the same place twice. And I will keep signing petitions, and writing to our legislators about the need for clean energy, and about ending off-shore drilling.  We must fully understand the consequences of our mistakes...we can't continue to put our oceans and our planet at risk.

At it again...

Since my last blog...

Tomatoes soon!!!

 I have puttered around worked in my mom's garden...

My mom's garden is always a mini wonderland, and always chaotic...We aren't talking nice neat rows...but it is an awesome place, nonetheless. She has everything from Crista tomatoes to kiwi and black bamboo growing in there. 

Noah sometimes helps us weed, but mostly he likes to help plant when he is in work mode...otherwise you'll find him with a net and a bucket "saving tadpoles" in the fish pond. Yeah, we're growing frogs in the house. Once he lost a bull frog in the living room. By the time we found it, it was flat as a pancake.  We might never have found it, but dead things do have a stinky phase. Since then, we've been a tadpole only kind of place.

I have also eaten more than my fair share of strawberries with-

out making a single jar of freezer jam. I even ate some

when Noah wasn't lookin'.  We haven't really even made much strawberry short cake because Noah is a real berry kid. He loves them. He is already eyeing the raspberries and blackberries!

Yum!!!!!!!!

I planted grasses with the Chesapeake Bay

Foundation with the little guy.  This year we

planted along the James at Westover Plantation.

Noah with the grasses...photo courtesy
 of the cell phone as I forgot to charge batteries

...And David and I got married... in one of my favorite places. 

Sunset after the wedding...

I also became obsessed with the BP oil spill and resulting environmental catastrophe ...and I am not exaggerating...but that is another blog on its own. Until then, happy weekend, XO

What's Cookin' Wednesday...Strawberry Girl Makes Freezer Jam

Yes...I need something to make me come back week in and week out...and I am hoping this helps. I thought maybe it would be fun to see what others are cooking...or not cooking...and either get a few ideas or share some kitchen pain. Noah and I eat far too much Chinese takeout. Oh, go ahead and laugh those of you that know about my China boycott.  I am laughing too!

So for my first What's Cookin blog, I decided to do something close to home, and something for which I am about 2 weeks early on in my neck of the woods...I've always been the impatient sort (this is not to be confused with getting things done in a timely fashion...I am also the queen of last minute, the ever procrastinator).

STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM
I grew up on a strawberry farm. The only lingering trauma for having done so is the name-calling. I still get called Strawberry Girl on occasion at the local store. For those out of town, your local store is the closest convenience store to your house. It is that place where everyone knows your dog's name and they have your cell number posted next to the cash register so they can call you when she makes the frequent odd visit. They have also seen you in pajamas when you come to pick up your dog.  In the old days these were general stores. Our store was S.G. Jones and Son. Ours sold everything from groceries to hip boots, knives, and as I remember socks. They also let you charge a handful of hot balls to your parents account when you walked there after getting off the bus instead of heading home as you were supposed to do.

So we don't grow pick your own strawberries anymore...only pumpkins.  We do have a smallish patch at the farm (50 X 50')...and I will probably be making the daily trip in a few days so that I don't miss out on the first ripe berry. I am impatient. I hated strawberries as a kid. I hate love irony. It was the one food I craved when I was pregnant with Noah. So for the past ten years I have been loving strawberries. The year I had Noah turned out to be the last year we operated the farm as a PYO berry farm.

STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM
Ingredients
2 cups crushed fresh strawberries
4 cups sugar
1 (1.75 ounce) package Sure-jell dry pectin
3/4 cup water

Directions
1. Pick a heap of fresh, ripe strawberries.  I don't know how much. I always pick loads and eat what I don't use.
2.Mix crushed strawberries with sugar, and let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, stir the pectin into the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 1 minute. Stir the boiling water into the strawberries. Allow to stand for 3 minutes before pouring into jars or other storage containers.
3.Place tops on the containers, and leave for 24 hours. Place into freezer, and store frozen until ready to use.
 
Lasts about a month once you've opened it and put it in the fridge.
 
If this recipe looks like the one that comes in the box of Sure-Jell, it is.  It is the best out there. I have tried all sorts of recipes, so if you thought you were getting a family secret, I hope you aren't too disappointed.  If there is a strawberry patch near you, go pick some and try it. The Strawberry Girl can't wait to have strawberry freezer jam on an english muffin.

The photo above is from my uncle's farm in Roca, Nebraska.  Strawberry growing was once contagious.

Poison Ivy and Ticks, Fresh and Raw

Following up on yesterday's post...
The Octagon soap apparently worked its magic...no rash...and I am extremely allergic to poison ivy...which means I am extremely allergic to my yard.
And I haven't found anymore ticks...so I either don't have anymore...or my eyesight is just plain bad.
But that has me wondering if Frontline or Advantix has ever been tested on humankind... And if it has, I want some...and if it hasn't, maybe I'd consider offering myself up as a test specimen.
And I am curious about the folk remedies for poison ivy and ticks. So if you have any, please share.
My sister has been getting poison oak like crazy on the job with the BLM in Oregon. She's been consuming Certo (that preservative you use making jams and jellies) because it is supposed to make the rash fade quicker. I did a little research and discovered the active ingredient, sodium benzoate, may combine with vitamin C to produce benzene...which according to the research is a carcinogen...so I am not so sure about that one. But wouldn't this mean that jams and jellies and any preserved foods for that matter might combine with C to do the same???? I would think this would mean we should be eating fresh, raw food?!?! Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...

A few ticks and a rash

It occurred to me that it has been two weeks since I have written. I've had some things on my mind that have kept the words inside, but it is time to dive back in...not because I have anything earth shattering to say, but because if I don't, I just may never.

So in case you don't already know, it is tick season again in our neck of the woods. Oh, I would love to blame it on someone else's woods, but unfortunately it is my own backyard...backyard, front yard...I wouldn't even really call it a yard. Landscaping was the first thing to go when I became a single mom. I know there are single parents out there who can do it all...work, kids, housekeeping, landscaping, and even manage going back to school at the same time...but that isn't me. So I got rid of the flowers (or rather they died, along with the rest of the shrubbery I'd planted years ago) and I decided to just deal with grass...only it isn't grass...it's weeds and poison ivy...and I don't deal with it...unless I am guilted into it.

Last week I bought some zinnia seeds, and sunflowers and moonflowers (my absolute favorite), and today I actually dug a raised bed in the spot I swore I would never dig again (it is much easier to push the lawn mower right up under the porch than it is to pull weeds in a flower bed). I had to haul in extra dirt which I dug from the ditch that invisibly separates the field from the yard. I apparently ventured into tick haven and through poison ivy wonderland on my way ferrying the dirt to what will eventually become the weedy flower bed. I am hoping that I have all the ticks off me, and that octagon soap really does remove the poison ivy oil...but something tells me I am going to be itching tomorrow. I don't like even thinking about that.

The good news is that I am even actually thinking about flowers again. I'm not even going to attempt getting inside my head to understand why. Maybe it's love :-). Bright, cheery flowers make me happy, and I will be glad to see them growing in front of the dilapidated porch...and I am hoping that the moonflower vines will grow all around it, and late on a summer evening I will sit out there and look at the stars with a glass of wine while the sweet scent of moonflowers wafts thru the air...it's worth a few ticks and a rash.